In 1983, Mabus was elected state auditor and served from 1984 to 1988, during this time, he participated in a large FBI sting operation which recovered millions in misspent or stolen public funds.[3] By the time it was finished, "Operation Pretense" had ensnared 57 county supervisors in 25 counties, and all but 2 supervisors served time in prison.[4]

At 39 years of age, he defeated Tupelo businessman Jack Reed in the 1987 gubernatorial election by 53% to 47%, becoming the youngest governor in the United States. He won "on a wave of black votes" (black voters made up about 30 percent of the state's registered voters)[5] and lost the white vote "by about 3 to 2" despite support from what a coalition one Democratic state chairman described as "poor whites" and yuppies.[6] Mabus, who ran on the slogan "Mississippi Will Never Be Last Again",[5] was billed as "the face of the New South", much like his counterpart in Arkansas at the time, Bill Clinton. Mabus was featured in a 1988 New York Times Magazine cover story titled "The Yuppies of Mississippi; How They Took Over the Statehouse".[7]

During his time as governor, he passed B.E.S.T. (Better Education for Success Tomorrow),[8] gave teachers the largest pay raise in the nation;[5] and was named one of Fortune Magazine’s ten "education governors".[9] Mississippi also had record growth in new jobs, investment, tourism and exports.[citation needed]

Because of the gubernatorial succession amendment ratified in 1987, Mabus was eligible to become the first governor to serve two successive terms in more than 100 years, and he ran for reelection in 1991. He was defeated 51% to 48% in the general election by RepublicanKirk Fordice, a former Vicksburg construction executive, who portrayed him as "arrogant and out of touch with Mississippi politically", with a New York Times article describing him as a "Porsche politician in a Chevy pickup state".[5]

On March 27, 2009, Mabus was nominated by President Obama as Secretary of the Department of the Navy.[16] He was sworn in on May 19, 2009,[17] and held a ceremonial swearing in at Washington Navy Yard on June 18, 2009, where he was re-sworn in by the Secretary of Defense Robert Gates.[18][19][20]

Subsequent ship naming controversies include his January 6, 2016 announcement of his naming of another auxiliary ship after civil rights activist and sitting incumbent Georgia Democratic Congressman John Lewis. Mabus further stated that this particular class of auxiliary ship, of which the John Lewis would be the lead ship, would all be named after civil rights leaders.[24] Mabus followed this action with his July 14, 2016 naming of the subsequent after gay rights icon and former San Francisco Democratic politician, the late Harvey Milk.[25]

Secretary Mabus has a presence on Facebook and frequently comments about his daily activities. He is the first branch secretary to maintain a web presence.[citation needed]

President Obama has asked him to develop a long-term Gulf Coast Restoration Plan as soon as possible. The plan will be designed by states, local communities, Native American tribes, fishermen, businesses, conservationists and other Gulf residents".[26]

On September 16, 2013, gunman Aaron Alexis entered the Washington Navy Yard and killed 13 people and injured 14. Alexis was a 34-year-old military contractor.[27] A Pentagon internal investigation found that the shootings could have been prevented with stricter oversight of security clearances and increased security at the Navy Yard facility.[27] A ceremony was held to mark the one year anniversary of the Navy Yard massacre, honoring those who were killed and injured. Mabus stated, “We know that their lives are defined not by how they died, but by how they lived and what they lived for, and will be remembered for that always.[28]”

After a January 2015 report by the Defense Business Board and McKinsey & Company discovered DoD was spending $134 billion, 23% of its total budget, on back-office work, and that the back-office bureaucracy staff of over one million people was nearly as great as the number of active troops, the Board recommended a plan to cut $125 billion in waste over five years.[29] However, when Ash Carter became Defense Secretary the next month, he replaced the Board chairman, the McKinsey results were classified as secret, and its report was removed from public websites.[29] Mabus then gave a speech at the American Enterprise Institute highlighting the McKinsey report, calling the back-office costs "pure overhead" and particularly criticizing the Defense Finance and Accounting Service and the Defense Logistics Agency.[29] Under Secretary Frank Kendall III then wrote to him asking "please refrain from taking any more public pot shots" and "I do not what this spilling over into further public discourse."[29]

On January 1, 2016, Mabus ordered the United States Marine Corps to devise a plan on co-integration of male and female recruits in basic training, giving top brass a two-week planning period, along with requesting a subject matter expert, to report the best method of said plan.[30]

In August 2007, he joined the board of EnerSys, the world's largest manufacturer, marketer and distributor of industrial batteries.[31] From 2006 to April 2007, he was Chairman and CEO of Foamex International and helped lead it out of bankruptcy.[citation needed] Less than nine months after his appointment, Foamex emerged from Chapter 11.[32][verification needed]In Feb of 2009 Foamex again sought bankruptcy protection.[33][verification needed]

He was included in Glassdoor's 2013 list of "Highest Rated CEOs" at 43rd place with an 82% approval rate.[34]

He is active in many community activities, primarily focusing on education. Following Hurricane Katrina, he founded the Help and Hope Foundation, which works to meet the needs of children affected by the storm.

He was a member of the RAND Center for Middle East Public Policy[35] and the Council on Foreign Relations, and is the Distinguished Lecturer on the Middle East at the University of Mississippi.

Mabus made a cameo appearance as himself in the "It's Not a Rumor" episode of the TV series The Last Ship, issuing orders to the crew of the Nathan James via a recorded message; in the storyline, by the time the ship received the orders, Mabus had succumbed to the "Red Flu" virus.[39]

^Staff reporter (2009-05-19). "Mabus Sworn in as New Navy Secretary". NNS. Retrieved 2009-05-20. Ray Mabus, former Mississippi governor and U.S. ambassador to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, was sworn in May 19 as the 75th secretary of the Navy (Archived by WebCite at webcitation.org)

^Tejada-Flores, Rick. "The Fight in the Fields – Cesar Chavez and the Farmworkers Struggle". Public Broadcasting Service. Archived from the original on August 17, 2015. Retrieved December 7, 2010.

^Gary Robbins; Elizabeth Aguilera (18 May 2011). "Navy secretary names ship after Cesar Chavez". San Diego Union Tribune. Retrieved 7 March 2012. Mabus' remarks came amid controversy. On Tuesday, Hunter issued a statement saying, "Naming a ship after César Chávez goes right along with other recent decisions by the Navy that appear to be more about making a political statement than upholding the Navy’s history and tradition."

^Philip Ewing (15 February 2012). "Navy Plays it Safe With New DDG and LCS Names". Military.com. Retrieved 7 March 2012. Less than a week after drawing traditionalist ire for naming a Navy warship after former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, Navy Secretary Ray Mabus returned to standard convention Wednesday in a batch of new names for forthcoming warships.